Do police officers treat African Americans legally open carrying firearms differently than they treat Caucasians? This video aimed to find out.
First, it should be mentioned that in large numbers, African Americans can and have been shutting the police down while open carrying. The Huey P. Newton Gun Club in Texas is one great example, as were the historical Black Panther Party For Self Defense, and the modern day New Panther Party.
In Beavercreek, Ohio there have been as many African Americans as Caucasians open carrying at protests for John Crawford – the man who was shot and killed in Walmart while open carrying a BB-gun.
Clearly numbers are a factor, as is “white insulation.” What is meant by that is when there is a Caucasian with an African American and both are open carrying, the responding officer treats the armed African American similarly to the Caucasian who is with him or her. That means that to the officer, the white man or woman has validated or visually vouched for the African American with them.
This happens instantly, and is a subconscious transaction.
This is why many African American open carry protesters, and the mixed group of demonstrators, often seen outside of the Beavercreek Walmart, say it is important to force “Black Open Carry” in the face of law enforcement.
“The Beavercreek cops are getting better. They haven’t shot anyone yet,” one regular at the Walmart protests told us.
“We have them pretty well trained to follow the law now,” another remarked.
It’s a sad testimony to the state of racism in law enforcement to note that police have to be conditioned to actually follow the law, rather than gunning innocent people down when they see legally-carried firearms. But that speaks to the racism at play here.
So watch what happens when officers respond to a Caucasian man legally carrying an AR-15 assault rifle, versus an African American man carrying that same weapon.
It’s pretty hard to argue with what we’ve just seen.
Did the police try to flex with both beyond what they law allowed them to? Yes, clearly. But when the Caucasian citizen asserted his rights, the officer backed down, as the law requires him to.
Compare and contrast that with the violent reaction when an African American man was confronted, legally carrying the exact same weapon.
What does this tell us?
Police officers need to be forced to respect the law, whether they are confronting armed Caucasians or armed African Americans. The law says, in most places, that the police do not have the exclusive right to be armed.
“What is the point of carrying that thing?” For many protesters, the point is to flaunt it in the face of the racist police. As one Walmart protester put it: “guns aren’t just for racist cops to carry, officer.”
Share this with anyone you know who thinks that the police treat everyone the same. The evidence argues to the contrary.